is kind an' thoughtful like," she said. "Won't you--" she hesitated;
the room she had just left was not in a condition to receive guests,
but Mrs. Wiggs was a Kentuckian. "Come right in an' git warm," she
said cordially; "the stove's died down some, but you could git
thawed out."

"No. thank you, I can't come in," said the young lady, with a side
glance at Jim, who was leaning against the door. "Have you plenty of
coal?" she asked, in an undertone.

"Oh, yes'm, thank you," said Mrs. Wiggs, smiling reassuringly. Her
tone might have been less confident, but for Jim's warning glance.
Every fiber of his sensitive nature shrank from asking help.

The girl was puzzled; she noticed the stamp of poverty on everything
in sight except the bright face of the little woman before her.

"Well," she said doubtfully, "if you ever want--to come to see me,
ask for Miss Lucy Olcott at Terrace Park. Good night, and a happy
Christmas!"

She was gone, and the doorway looked very black and lonesome in
consequence. But there was the big basket to prove she was not
merely an apparition, and it took both Jim and his mother to carry
it in. Sitting on the floor, they unpacked it. There were
vegetables, oatmeal, fruit, and even tea and coffee. But the
surprise was at the very bottom! A big turkey, looking so comical
with his legs stuck in his body that Jim laughed outright.

"It's the first turkey that's been in this house fer many a day!"